Death Always has a Vacancy
by Darkhours
Summary: An AU fic of the drowning scene in linchpin


**I'm looking for a beta so if you're one please message me.**

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The impact of the escalade slamming into her car has immediate panic surging up her body, overflowing, overwhelming her senses so her head only swirls around their impending doom. Her breath is stolen from her lungs, her body restrained from movement as she watches the car be pushed forward and off the ledge. The only words she can say; his name, over and over.

She hits her head when they hit the water, but doesn't let on that it hurts, that it makes her mind a little fuzzy. Despite her slight deliriousness she watches as he snatches off his belt and looks at her expectantly. But her belt is caught. It can't be caught. What is she saying? It's stuck. It's stuck and she can't get out. She fights against the belt, the seat, her own damn strength to get out, but it's all to no avail.

She sees the worry etched across his face and wants nothing more than to wipe it away, get him to reveal that heart warming smile she knows he harvests. Her head isn't clearing, it's getting more bleary, but she tries to blink past the pain, the difficulty it gives to her focus.

Her gun, she thinks. But surprise surprise it's not there.

He leaves her find it. The determination in his eyes is one she isn't willing to fight.

_Find the gun, Castle. This can't be the end, find the gun._

The water is climbing up her legs, seeping through her clothes, chilling her skin, deepening to her bones. She's shivering and water keeps on coming, her belt no looser than when she first started tugging. Her mind is still slowly losing hold of reality. She can feel knots and screws coming unhinged and all she wants to do is close her eyes. Rest and then she'll start back up as sleep is tugging at her body. She's tired but she has to hold on. She's so exhausted and the cold of the water is practically forcing her body to shut down.

She vaguely hears him say he's found it because her mind is blanking, erasing the edges of reality from her vision.

She can feel the water on her butt, the ice numbing her cheeks, and then it's rising just as quickly up her back. She can still feel Castle tugging under her, her mind is mistaking it as a pounding in her head. It feels like someone keeps repeatedly hitting her with a baseball bat. _Whack, whack, whack_. Steady, consistent, and she can't run from the pain her mind is conjuring.

She pushes her hand to chest, her heart beating so hard and fast she can feel it on her scar. It hurts. Every beat like she's getting shot all over again. _Bang, bang…bang. Bang, bang…bang._

She's losing all her hope, her reasoning to stay awake. The cold of the water only worsening _everything_. The realization that this is the end a choker around her neck. Her breath only coming in pants.

Castle comes up for a breath, squeezes her shoulder, and goes back under. His body disappearing under the deep water this time. Her mind seems to be slowing things down, her heart and breathing slower too. She looks out at the water and sees a light in the distance. The water up to her neck now, like a block of ice pushing her windpipe.

It keeps going, up to her face now and it's like ice sickles stabbing her cheeks, like one is being shoved up her nose.

Castle comes back up, gasping.

"I can't get it! It's getting stuck on every possible thing."

She doesn't saying anything. The lull of sleep to strong to fight. Her eyes droop but he shakes her face, tells her not to give up on him. He takes his last breath and continues to fight with the gun. She wants to tell him to leave her, but how can he if they can't shoot the window? They'll die. But at least they'll die together. Death always has a vacancy.

The water rises past her eyes and she lets them close, the peace she finds to addictive to try to fight it any longer. Her chest burns with the lack of oxygen, but she has no choice but to suffer. Her body begins to shake and convulse, fighting for…what? She'll never know. The spasms stealing the last of the energy she has and when it stops, her vision is blackened, her skin so numb it's almost warm. Her chest isn't screaming, and the last thing she remembers before she lets go is the feel of his hand on hers.

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**Tumblr: beinginthedarkesthour **


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